One week passed.

  Not in peace, not in safety—but it passed nethertheless.

  The clearing buzzed now with the quiet hum of structure. The smell of smoke no longer meant panic. Morning fires burned low and intentional. The fencing had expanded by ten meters on all sides, reinforced with sharpened stakes, trenches, and rudimentary watchtowers made from scavenged branches.

  The camp wasn’t a village. Not yet. But it was starting to look like one.

  Alex woke to the sound of hammering—Dev and Roger were working on a third watchpost near the eastern line. The two moved quickly, communicating in quiet grunts. Dev still had a faint scar across his side from the goblin raid, but he worked through it, leaner and stronger now. He was growing.

  Vin sat nearby, finally upright, flexing his leg cautiously as he tied a simple snare with his fingers. The wound had healed enough for him to hobble on his own, though his stride was stiff and short.

  "Don’t rush it," Camila said as she passed by, setting down a bundle of vines beside the fire pit. "You don’t want to rip the scar open. Again."

  Vin nodded sheepishly. “I’ve already heard it from Wren, Marcy, and Miriam.”

  “Good,” she said, moving on.

  Over the past week, life had become survival by habit.

  Wren and Yusuf were up earlier than most each morning, pushing their Nen training to its edge. The two of them now led short lessons in aura basics every evening for those interested—Jake called it "Ten for Ten," a nod to the time limit and the technique. A few others had joined their sessions—some only curious, others desperate.

  Yusuf himself has gained Gyo Ken

  Alex had made significant progress with his chakra control, able to stick to vertical surfaces for minutes at a time now. Tree climbing had become part of his daily warm-up. His physical strength training was also coming along nicely, as was the same for others. He spent 15 points to unlock Fire Release Water release.

  Ellie had bought Ice make magic

  Li had bought transformation magic for 20 points, whilst at the basic level it only allows her to change her appearance, she still can’t change her clothes, but the potential of the magic is great, with enough training she could add other features like gills or even wings.

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  Camila has been flourishing as per usual, going out hunting frequently, usually Alex and Yusuf tag along, although Ellie came a few times, she was given some of their trophies, letting her get enough points for the Ice Make magic. But Camila is already quite formidable, she’d bought a few days ago Earth magic for 30 points and has been exploring that with her wind magic. That and increasing her magical reserves through training.

  Miriam walked the perimeter every morning at dawn, often alone. She had been quieter since Theo died, though more decisive. Her patrol rotations were stricter now. Her orders shorter. A week of weight behind her words. She’d chosen Medical Ninjutsu

  The ranger unit had become a permanent fixture—Alex, Camila, Jason, Yusuf, and now Grace. They rotated daily hunts, bringing back rabbits, mushrooms, wild root vegetables, and once—miraculously—a boar.

  That hunt had left Jason with a nasty gash down his forearm. But he wore the scar like pride. “Better a scratch than nothing on the spit,” he’d said.

  The boar didn’t last that long though. A full stew night brought real smiles to the camp. That night, they’d even played music, this was off of Alex’s phone, one of the few remaining.

  Jake sat by the Obelisk each night, updating his tally with neat, disciplined handwriting.

  He’d recorded seven new path-takers that week.

  New Path Selections:

  

  
• Matt
  
    – 26 Points
  
    Path:
  
    Remaining: 6 Points
  
    “Feels like the most physical one,” he’d said. “Fits what I want.”


  
• Vin
  
    – 21 Points
  
    Path:
  
    Remaining: 1 Point
  
    “I need something to stop this from happening again,” he said, gesturing  to his leg.


  
• Hana
  
    – 24 Points
  
    Path:
  
    Remaining: 4 Points


  
• Travis
  
    – 23 Points
  
    Path:
  
    Remaining: 3 Points


  
• Becca
  
    – 22 Points
  
    Path:
  
    Remaining: 2 Points


  
• Harper
  
    – 24 Points
  
    Path:
  
    Remaining: 4 Points


  
• Omar
  
    – 26 Points
  
    Path:
  
    Remaining: 6 Points


  

  That brought the total to 26 chosen

  Jake kept a tally by power system:

  

  
• Naruto
  
    – 7


  
• One  Piece
  
    
• Fairy  Tail
  
    
• Hunter  x Hunter
  
    
• Bleach
  
    – 3


  

  David has gained Observation Haki, Armament Armament

  They’ve stockpiled a variety of items at this point as well. In particular from the One-Piece path, 5 more Marine Sabers

  Toward the end of the week, something changed.

  It wasn’t announced. It didn’t come with a sound or a light.

  It came in silence—when Roger was scrolling through the devil fruit options, looking through some Zoan devil fruits, nothing fancy:

  UNAVAILABLE

  The power was grayed out—its count at zero.

  Devil Fruit (Zoan-type) – Inu Inu no Mi: Model – Jackal

  Remaining: 0

  “That’s... that’s one of the Zoans,” he whispered.

  “What” Miriam stood beside him. “What are you on about.”

  “A devils fruits gone, one of the zoans, the jackal fruit,” Roger said.

  Miriam looked to Jake who shook his head.

  The realization spread slowly. For the first time, the abstract idea of other groups became real. Concrete. Confirmed. The cloth found many days ago had been forgotten by most, but the greyed out devi fruit all but confirms the theory that others had been sent with them.

  Jake closed his notebook with care.

  “Twenty-six of us have chosen. Seventy-four still haven’t. And we’re not alone.” he said.